give now
Meadow in the John Day river basin

Meadow in the John Day river basin

Programs

Pacific Salmon Conservation AssessmentNews & Program Updates

March - April, 2006

Choosing where to invest limited conservation resources is often a difficult decision. With this in mind, Wild Salmon Center is working with scientific partners on the Pacific Salmon Conservation Assessment, an in-depth review of the most important salmon rivers of the North Pacific. This analysis follows on the heels of the ground-breaking Atlas of Pacific Salmon, published in spring 2005, which was the first assessment of extinction risk and salmon distribution across the entire North Pacific.

Working closely with academic and government partners, including the University of Montana and the University of Washington, WSC is ranking rivers according to salmon abundance, species diversity, characteristics of habitat, and hatchery influence. The analysis will form the scientific basis for choosing WSC's next major program sites and creating a North Pacific network that captures the salmon rivers that are critical for long-term salmon conservation at the scale of the Pacific Rim

This detailed and data-intensive assessment will help us to hone in on critical wild salmon ecosystems - where production is sustainable and rivers are healthy enough to support generations of wild salmon for years to come. Our goal is to ensure that these particularly important rivers maintain their high value for salmon, human economies, cultures, and biodiversity.

Preliminary results will be available in Spring 2006 after a peer review workshop with partners from Russia, Canada, and the United States. We've recruited an exceptional group of participants from universities and government agencies: the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, the US Forest Service, Russian fisheries agencies, the Russian Interdepartmental Ichthyologic Commission, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the University of Montana, and the University of Washington.

Once established, results will be reviewed and refined every couple of years and on a more frequent basis as the need arises. This network of rivers will define Wild Salmon Center's protection work for years to come. We look forward to sharing our results!